Served double blind. There’s a bit of a weird tropical nose here, with plenty of lychee and green herbal tones. Nose seems to point me to gewurztraminer. No acidity. Incredibly waxy, and tons of viscosity, thickness, and bitterness. Not my thing at all.
Served double blind. Herbaceous and almost some pyrazines here with a good amount of oak. Seems like old-school Bordeaux to me, at least from my gut impression. Very lovely acidity. The fruit is plentiful but this wine is wholly dry. So much richness and power with lovely acidic cut here. A brilliant wine.
Served double blind. Extremely pale in colour. Perfumed, with some very pretty red fruit here. Clearly showing a bit of age, with some leather here. Lovely sweetness and fruit here. The tannic structure here clearly points to old nebbiolo. Delicate, fresh, and grippy.
Served double blind. Very lovely nose, with some good black fruit and cassis here, but a slight hint of herbs. Touch of pyrazine on the nose as well. The palate is fairly young, showing some green herbal tones, and some really intense fruit flavours. Quite dark and concentrated. Perhaps a super Tuscan?
Served double blind. Black fruit, quite intense, and a slight bit of pyrazine. Fairly ripe with some nice structural elements. Grainy tannins, black fruit, slight raisin, and really generous black fruit. Tannins are quite refined. Incredible density and power. In an evening where everything seemed to be herbaceous and cabernet to me, this was my broken-clock-is-right-twice-a-day moment.
Served double blind. Herbal and some menthol on the nose. Palate clearly has the right structure for cabernet. Cool acidity, with some nice fruit here. Perhaps a bit generous on the black fruit. Quite delicious, but coming to nebbiolo was quite a struggle. After the reveal, I realized that I do like the Vietti wines, but find that they aren't what I am looking for when I uncork a nebbiolo.
Served double blind. A bit of high-toned Sharpie on the nose here. The palate is fairly sweet and ripe, and shows a lot of modernist tones. Oak tannin pokes out here. Almost certainly a relatively modern-producer of Barolo. I was a little disappointed here -- would have expected a lot more from this bottle.
Served double blind. Chocolate milkshake on the nose. Blueberries. Way too big. Creamy, sweet, and massive. Over the top. In its defense, interesting silky texture, but never something I'd care to drink.
Served double blind. Nice touch of pyrazine on the nose. The palate has a nice bit of fruit, and I really love that delicious red-fruited quality here. Good acidity and nicely balanced. Lean and elegant, this is certainly something in my wheelhouse.
Served double blind. Really nice black cherry on the nose. Juicy and fresh, with lots of youthful tannin. Hugely scaled, with plenty of grippy tannin too. Quite intense, but placing this was a real challenge.
An obvious dose of roses and tar on the nose. Plenty of fruit as well, but there is a little soy note that seems to indicate this might not be aging as well as it ought to be. The palate is quite earthy and shows a lovely cherry fruit. Elegant and finessed, but showing a little older than expected on the palate as well.
Served double blind. Lovely herbal tones on the nose, savoury, and really complex. Lovely juiciness on the palate, but there’s a clean minerality here as well. Quite old-school and very elegant thanks to its acidity. The tannins are fairly resolved, and I did end up in Tuscany fairly easily, but the vintage was quite the surprise, especially compared to the Tignanello.
Served double blind. Seems a fairly youthful wine, with some lovely juicy red fruit. Fairly cool, youthful, with a lot of grainy tannins. Clearly Piedmont again, but serious complexity and power, and a fair step above the other nebbiolos tonight. Delicate and crystalline.
Served double blind. High-toned, with tons of Sharpie marker and black fruit. A little too volatile, perhaps? Really massive with tons of tannin, clearly not a modernist wine, but also not a bashful one. Did end up at sagrantino, but it's never really been my cup of tea.
Served double blind. High-toned red fruit on the nose and palate. Heaps of tannin, but not quite nebbiolo tannin; way more bitter and stemmy. Kind of a puzzling wine. Some red fruit here that is pleasant enough.
Served double blind. From half-bottle. I wasn't a huge fan of the nose here, with it showing so much volatility and organic solvents and things like that. The palate, however, is phenomenal. It's the right amount of sweetness, showing intense raisin flavours, but also balanced by that crazy sagrantino tannin. Absolutely brilliant stuff.
2013 Ricci Curbastro Franciacorta Satèn Millesimato 83 Points
Italy, Lombardia, Franciacorta DOCG
Really nice cut and minerality here. Fairly lean, but odd on the palate. Some herbal tones; fairly simple and a lot of bitterness.
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2012 Elena Walch Gewürztraminer Kastelaz 80 Points
Italy, Trentino-Alto Adige, Alto Adige, Alto Adige - Südtirol
Served double blind. There’s a bit of a weird tropical nose here, with plenty of lychee and green herbal tones. Nose seems to point me to gewurztraminer. No acidity. Incredibly waxy, and tons of viscosity, thickness, and bitterness. Not my thing at all.
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1994 R. López de Heredia Rioja Gran Reserva Viña Tondonia 95 Points
Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alta, Rioja
Served double blind. Herbaceous and almost some pyrazines here with a good amount of oak. Seems like old-school Bordeaux to me, at least from my gut impression. Very lovely acidity. The fruit is plentiful but this wine is wholly dry. So much richness and power with lovely acidic cut here. A brilliant wine.
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1967 Cantina Terre Del Barolo Barolo Riserva 93 Points
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
Served double blind. Extremely pale in colour. Perfumed, with some very pretty red fruit here. Clearly showing a bit of age, with some leather here. Lovely sweetness and fruit here. The tannic structure here clearly points to old nebbiolo. Delicate, fresh, and grippy.
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1997 Antinori Tignanello 93 Points
Italy, Tuscany, Toscana IGT
Served double blind. Very lovely nose, with some good black fruit and cassis here, but a slight hint of herbs. Touch of pyrazine on the nose as well. The palate is fairly young, showing some green herbal tones, and some really intense fruit flavours. Quite dark and concentrated. Perhaps a super Tuscan?
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1979 Heitz Cellar Cabernet Sauvignon Martha's Vineyard 95 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley, Oakville
Served double blind. Black fruit, quite intense, and a slight bit of pyrazine. Fairly ripe with some nice structural elements. Grainy tannins, black fruit, slight raisin, and really generous black fruit. Tannins are quite refined. Incredible density and power. In an evening where everything seemed to be herbaceous and cabernet to me, this was my broken-clock-is-right-twice-a-day moment.
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2004 Vietti Barolo Lazzarito 93 Points
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
Served double blind. Herbal and some menthol on the nose. Palate clearly has the right structure for cabernet. Cool acidity, with some nice fruit here. Perhaps a bit generous on the black fruit. Quite delicious, but coming to nebbiolo was quite a struggle. After the reveal, I realized that I do like the Vietti wines, but find that they aren't what I am looking for when I uncork a nebbiolo.
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1998 Massolino Barolo Riserva Vigna Rionda 85 Points
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
Served double blind. A bit of high-toned Sharpie on the nose here. The palate is fairly sweet and ripe, and shows a lot of modernist tones. Oak tannin pokes out here. Almost certainly a relatively modern-producer of Barolo. I was a little disappointed here -- would have expected a lot more from this bottle.
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2001 Feudi di San Gregorio Irpinia Serpico 80 Points
Italy, Campania, Irpinia
Served double blind. Chocolate milkshake on the nose. Blueberries. Way too big. Creamy, sweet, and massive. Over the top. In its defense, interesting silky texture, but never something I'd care to drink.
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2014 Tenuta dell'Ornellaia Bolgheri Superiore Ornellaia 93 Points
Italy, Tuscany, Bolgheri, Bolgheri Superiore
Served double blind. Nice touch of pyrazine on the nose. The palate has a nice bit of fruit, and I really love that delicious red-fruited quality here. Good acidity and nicely balanced. Lean and elegant, this is certainly something in my wheelhouse.
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1990 Azienda Bricco Rocche (Ceretto) Barolo Bricco Rocche Flawed
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
Served double blind. Corked, but still identifiable as nebbiolo based on the tannic structure.
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2006 San Fereolo 1593 Langhe Rosso 93 Points
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Langhe DOC
Served double blind. Really nice black cherry on the nose. Juicy and fresh, with lots of youthful tannin. Hugely scaled, with plenty of grippy tannin too. Quite intense, but placing this was a real challenge.
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2000 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco Riserva Moccagatta 93 Points
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco
An obvious dose of roses and tar on the nose. Plenty of fruit as well, but there is a little soy note that seems to indicate this might not be aging as well as it ought to be. The palate is quite earthy and shows a lovely cherry fruit. Elegant and finessed, but showing a little older than expected on the palate as well.
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1997 Isole e Olena Cepparello Toscana IGT 93 Points
Italy, Tuscany, Toscana IGT
Served double blind. Lovely herbal tones on the nose, savoury, and really complex. Lovely juiciness on the palate, but there’s a clean minerality here as well. Quite old-school and very elegant thanks to its acidity. The tannins are fairly resolved, and I did end up in Tuscany fairly easily, but the vintage was quite the surprise, especially compared to the Tignanello.
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1995 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco Riserva Moccagatta Flawed
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco
Served double blind. Something not quite right on the nose, but the tannic structure again pointed me fairly quickly to nebbiolo.
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2004 Bruno Giacosa Barolo Vigna Croera di La Morra 95 Points
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
Served double blind. Seems a fairly youthful wine, with some lovely juicy red fruit. Fairly cool, youthful, with a lot of grainy tannins. Clearly Piedmont again, but serious complexity and power, and a fair step above the other nebbiolos tonight. Delicate and crystalline.
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2011 Paolo Bea Montefalco Sagrantino Secco Pagliaro 83 Points
Italy, Umbria, Montefalco, Montefalco Sagrantino
Served double blind. High-toned, with tons of Sharpie marker and black fruit. A little too volatile, perhaps? Really massive with tons of tannin, clearly not a modernist wine, but also not a bashful one. Did end up at sagrantino, but it's never really been my cup of tea.
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2007 Torciano Brunello di Montalcino Flawed
Italy, Tuscany, Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino
Served double blind. Corked.
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2007 Castello di Neive Barbaresco Riserva Albesani Santo Stefano 85 Points
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barbaresco
Served double blind. High-toned red fruit on the nose and palate. Heaps of tannin, but not quite nebbiolo tannin; way more bitter and stemmy. Kind of a puzzling wine. Some red fruit here that is pleasant enough.
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2009 Paolo Bea Montefalco Sagrantino Passito 95 Points
Italy, Umbria, Montefalco, Montefalco Sagrantino
Served double blind. From half-bottle. I wasn't a huge fan of the nose here, with it showing so much volatility and organic solvents and things like that. The palate, however, is phenomenal. It's the right amount of sweetness, showing intense raisin flavours, but also balanced by that crazy sagrantino tannin. Absolutely brilliant stuff.
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